Malvika Bansod loses to Akane Yamaguchi in China Open quarterfinals

Hyderabad: Indian badminton player Malvika Bansod ran out of steam in the China Open Super 1000 tournament losing in the quarterfinals to Akane Yamaguchi.

Malvika took the China Open by storm after beating Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medalist Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia and Scotland’s Kristy Gilmour in the first and second rounds of the tournament.

This is the third time Malvika and Yamaguchi have faced each other on the international circuit and the young Indian is yet to notch up a win over the former world champion.

In the quarterfinals, Malvika couldn’t get going from the word go and ended up losing 10-21, 16-21 in a match that lasted just over half an hour. It was Malvika’s first-ever Super 1000 tournament quarterfinal appearance. She is the third Indian after Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to play in the quarterfinals of a Super 1000 tournament in the women’s singles.

Ranked 43rd in the world, Malvika was found wanting for answers as Yamaguchi opened up a healthy 12-4 lead. The Nagpur-based shuttler couldn’t crawl back from the lead and could only manage to win six more points as she lost the first game in quick time.

She came out a tad better in the second game and matched Yamguchi point to point and shot to shot. The duo, who had a couple of close battles in the past, looked to play out another close game at 15-all but Yamaguchi upped the ante when it mattered and showed her class.

Malvika was able to win just one more point after that as the Japanese and the former world champion ran away with the game.

With Malvika’s loss, India’s participation in the China Open Super 1000 came to an end.